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So, I realized yesterday that little Lucy didn’t have an Easter diaper! That’s right. It’s got to be white, right? Since I had already placed my online order for more covers I ran over to our local store Swaddle and picked up a singe cover with an insert. What a lifesaver! She also needed one for her baptism next week. Many thanks to the local stores who carry cloth. I hope more jump on the wagon soon!

So, I am taking on the task of travelling with a 5 month old in a few weeks. I will be attempting to board an aircraft in Birmingham, switch flights in Phoenix, land in Las Vegas, and hopefully gather a stroller, a carseat and 1 checked bag along with my baby and a carryon and grab a cab to my hotel in one graceful swoop. Say a prayer….

Since I will be there for 4 days, I am using disposable inserts for the first few days. I will also need more covers since I only own 8 at the time. Well, with this in mind, I scourged the internet looking for coupon codes and discounts. Well, did I hit the jackpot! And I don’t mind sharing with everyone. If you go to ebates which is a fabulous little website that actually gives you cash back… that’s right.. you get a check in the mail for a certain percentage every time you go through their website to get to other websites to make your purchases. Believe me, I’ve done it and I’ve received the check and the $10 gift card you receive after you make your first purchase. So, go to ebates and then scroll down to soap.com, where it will tell you that you will receive 4% back. After there it will direct you to soap.com and you can make your purchases there. Soap.com ships along with diapers.com, yoyo.com, wag.com and casa.com. After your total is $25 or more, you receive free shipping. And to make things better, I discovered a lovely little coupon code that gets you 20% off your entire purchase. AMAZING!! So, do not delay! If you need to replenish your stock of Rockin’ Green cloth diaper soap or buy new diapers or even dog food you should jump on this deal. Seriously, jump on it! Coupon code is BUYMORESAV .

So, I know it’s been a couple of months and I apologize. Like most things in my life that I got excited about, my blog has been greatly diminished by the demands of my 3 month old baby and almost 3 year old son. Wow, everyone tells you that you will be completely overwhelmed by your 2nd child but you don’t get it until it actually happens. Your 2 year old wants you to play with his trains, or trucks or hold him or chase him all the while you have a newborn attached to you (literally), milk is spilling everywhere..on you, the baby and the floor from your 2 year old throwing his drink on the floor just to get your attention. And somehow in the middle of those moments, you are supposed to work your business, clean your house, do your laundry, cook dinners, go to the grocery and run errands…seriously!!??

But you know the one thing I don’t have to worry about? Buying diapers..that’s right. I’ve made it work! It’s the easiest part of my day and I love just walking by the diaper aisle and not having to put that extra $15-25 in my buggy.

I have taken on the beginnings of using cloth wipes so I will update on that later along with my yummy cloth wipe solution..until then..enjoy this little lovely that makes all the hard work and spilled milk worth it.

Lucy finally arrived on November 11, 2011 at 1:41pm. She weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. The labor and delivery were painful as expected but since I had already given birth once before to a 9lb baby (Jack), I knew what to expect and managed to have more control throughout the entire process. This isn’t a natural labor blog so I’ll spare you the gory details, but all in all it was a wonderful experience and we are so glad that Lucy arrived safe and happy.

I know I had mentioned before that I was planning on starting her cloth diapering whilst we were in the hospital but that plan didn’t survive. First of all, I left the diapers at home…Second of all, I don’t believe it would have been an easy process seeing as how she was taken back and forth from the nursery, nurses were changing her diaper often, and I was enjoying them taking care of her for the first two days so I didn’t protest :). Now, I am sure that if I wanted to I could have made it work, but I failed and that’s okay.

She dropped down to 8 lbs before we left the hospital and when we arrived at home I was anxious to try our flip diaper system on her. The only trouble was that her legs were quite tiny and the inserts and covers left a gap that was going to lead to leaks. So, we have been using pre-folds with snappies and then using the flip cover over it. I began using the inserts a few days ago and since she has probably gained at least 1 1/2 lbs or more since she has been home, her legs have chubbed up a bit and the inserts are working great! Everything is working great so far, but we do have to change her diaper quite often as she has been eating a lot and seems to be a heavy wetter.

Lucy wearing her fluff

Each night, or every other night, I have loaded our washing machine with dirty diapers, pre-washed, then washed with our Rockin’ Green detergent and mio-babino antibacterial nappy cleanser. I rinse twice and then throw the inserts, or prefolds into the dryer and line dry the covers (which dry extremely fast). All in all, Matthew and I have found this process to be way easier than anticipated. We haven’t bought any disposable diapers and wow, are we glad because this little girl wets and poops way more than Jack ever did. I will place an order this week for a wet bag which will make going out easier as well as a diaper sprayer, which will make the breastfeeding poop come off the diaper easier than a swirl in the toilet (sorry if that grosses you out but it works!). After those orders and two more purchases for a flip day pack, I believe that we will be well on our way to a full time cloth diapering family.

I would say to those who think that cloth diapering is more of a chore than necessary, go ahead and try it. It’s not that hard, it’s not that stinky, and man…they sure look cute wearing them :)….happy diapering!!

Halloween and pregnancy have slowed me down a bit these last few days but good news…Jack’s diapers do not leak overnight! He is 2 1/2 but his diapers are still wet when he wakes up in the morning. Both of the inserts were wet but his skin was mostly dry and best of all, nothing leaked from the cover! This is great news for me since I am still hoping to only have to use pre-folds and Flip diapers and inserts on my babies. I like everything that has occurred so far. I will say that he has not had a poopie in his Flip diapers yet but I wonder if that is because of his age and the fact that he only goes once every other day…as well as the fact that he is aware of how different they feel and may be purposefully holding it in. But, only time will tell.

I read an interesting article today referred to me by a friend and saw that Johnson & Johnson is finally being exposed a little about the chemicals that are found in their products. Dioxane is one of those chemicals that is found in these baby personal care products which is also a chemical that is found in disposable diapers. Here is some information I found on the EPA’s website that gives a detailed definition/description of dioxane:

Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000

1,4-Dioxane is used as a solvent. Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to high levels of 1,4-dioxane has caused vertigo, drowsiness, headache, anorexia and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs in humans. It may also irritate the skin. Damage to the liver and kidneys has been observed in rats chronically (long-term) exposed in their drinking water. In three epidemiologic studies on workers exposed to 1,4-dioxane, the observed number of cancer cases did not differ from the expected cancer deaths. Tumors have been observed in orally exposed animals. EPA has classified 1,4-dioxane as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen.

So hopefully as people become aware of the possible danger(s) of dioxane they will thoroughly research products such as disposable diapers that contain this chemical. I find it interesting that dioxane can cause irritation to the skin and when considering sensitive baby skin, it would seem even more important to use products on babies that do not contain this chemical. I am glad that I use Arbonne products that contain no harmful chemicals or even mineral oil in them and they have all but rid my son of his eczema. I wonder now that he will be in cloth diapers for most of the time, if that will also help with any redness that may occur near his diaper area.

So, tonight is the first night of the Flip Diaper night trial run for Jack. The whole excitement about him telling me he tee-tee’d in his diaper was just that…one time excitement. Oh well, he won’t be 15 and still wearing diapers…right? Back to the topic…I used 2 inserts in his diaper and I will update tomorrow if we had any leaks or dampness on his legs. It is obviously a bit more bulky than a disposable and a little more bulky than using just the one insert but he didn’t complain or fuss about it, so I assume that he is comfortable with it. Did I also mention that I am using a Bambino Mio Nappy Bucket and diaper bags for dirty diaper storage? So far, we have not had any smells or problems with it. And it’s quite convenient that I can just pick up the entire bag and dump my dirty diapers (along with the bag) in the wash and their is no nastiness to clean out of the bucket. Wow, I wish I had researched this whole process 2 years ago…might have saved quite a few bucks. For those of you who are unfamiliar with a Flip diaper, or any up to date cloth diaper/cover here is a picture of how it looks. It really couldn’t be easier! Right now I am using the Stay Dry insert and it has kept my man soft and dry thus far and all I have to do is wipe down the inside of the cover and use it again.

So really, why I am going to spend more time washing and line drying and sunning diapers when I can just replace and toss in the garbage? Well, my answer is tri-fold….essentially I am doing this so we can:

1. Save money

Saving money is a key component in our decision to cloth diaper. With my first, we were spending (on average) about $30 a month on diapers. Multiply that times 24 and you get a whopping $720. Maybe you are thinking that doesn’t sound so bad because after 2, your child will be potty trained right? Maybe they will, if they are ready. But my little man just isn’t ready yet so let us recalculate. Jack will turn 3 in March so let’s add 7 more months to that total and thus far we have spent at least $930 on diapers since he has been around. And we use the Up & Up brand from Target! So far, I have spent about $115 on cloth diapers thus far and plan on spending about $150 more and then I plan on spending nothing. So that’s a total of less than $300 all in all.

2. Keep unnecessary chemicals away from my baby’s skin

I know there are some of you coupon ladies out there who can spend about $5 a month on diapers by driving all over town and clipping and saving and etc… but how does that keep the nasty chemicals that are in diapers away from your kids? Is it worth it just because you aren’t spending much? Read this information I found below about the chemicals found in disposable diapers and you may rethink your decision:

Dioxins

Most disposable diapers are bleached white with chlorine, resulting in a byproduct called dioxins that leach into the environment and the diapers. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dioxins are among the most toxic chemicals known to science and are listed by the EPA as highly carcinogenic chemicals. According to the World Health Organization, exposure to dioxins may cause skin reactions and altered liver function, as well as impairments to the immune system, nervous system, endocrine system and reproductive functions.

Sodium PolyacrylateSodium polycarbonate is a super absorbent chemical compound that is used in the fillers of many disposable diapers. It is composed of cellulose processed from trees that is mixed with crystals of polyacrylate. This chemical absorbs fluids and creates surface tension in the lining of the diaper to bind fluids and prevent leakage. Sodium polyacrylate is often visible as small gel-like crystals on the skin of babies and is thought to be linked to skin irritations and respiratory problems. This chemical was removed from tampons due to toxic shock syndrome concerns. As it has only been used in diapers for the last two decades, there is not yet research on the long-term health effects of sodium polyacrylate on babies.Tributyl-tin (TBT)Many disposable diapers contain a chemical called tributyl-tin (TBT). According to the EPA, this toxic pollutant is extremely harmful to aquatic (water) life and causes endocrine (hormonal) disruptions in aquatic organisms. TBT is a polluting chemical that does not degrade but remains in the environment and in our food chain. TBT is also an ingredient used in biocides to kill infecting organisms. Additionally, according to research published by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, tributyl-tin can trigger genes that promote the growth of fat cells, causing obesity in humans.Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)Disposable diapers frequently contain chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These include chemicals such as ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene and dipentene. According to the EPA, VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system as well as cancers.Other ChemicalsOther chemicals often used in disposable diapers include dyes, fragrances, plastics and petrolatums. Adhesive chemicals are used in the sticky tabs to close the diapers and dyes are used to color and make the patterns and labels that mark diapers. Perfumes and fragrances are used in some disposable diapers to help mask odors.

Why do I care about reducing our waste? I am not one to harp on someone else about throwing things away instead of recycling. But it is common sense that when you look at the facts about disposable diapers, it is plain to see that we can intervene and actually save some space in the landfills for things other than diapers. I mean, if every child uses on average around 5000 diapers before they are potty trained then I am saving a lot of space in the landfills and I am saving resources used to make the diapers (i.e. trees) when I choose to cloth diaper.

I hope this gives everyone a basic understanding of our reasons for making this change and hopefully can encourage and influence others to rethink their own decisions about diapering.

Like most moms, I get super excited when I get something in the mail, which is one of the reasons I love ordering online. I mean, don’t get me wrong, if the 1 store in town that carries the diapers I want to use actually sold them at an affordable price I would love to support them but right now I need to save the extra $15 a box. So, last week my 2 day packs of Flip diapers and my unbleached cotton pre-folds arrived. I immediately tore into the box and was pleased to find the blossom and grasshopper colored diaper covers and the stay dry inserts that I found. I also had ordered some Rockin’ Green detergent and immediately got to work pre-washing my diapers. I washed them twice through and hung them to dry on my rack along with the pre-folds that I will use while Lucy (my little one in my belly) is a newborn. Oh, I also ordered some Snappi ‘s which I hear are indispensable when using basic pre-folds around the house. So, now I am almost set….right? I just need a baby to use these on! I got so excited that I decided to try my 2 year old (who has no interest in potty training) in a Flip diaper. He immediately fussed and fussed when I put it on him but soon after got used to the way it felt and pretended like everything was normal. Something interesting did happen though the next day when I had him in one. He immediately came to me after I put it on him and told me that he had tee-tee’d in his diaper. Wow…he had never said that before! I guess because he could feel it! So, maybe these diapers will be the first stepping stone for Jack in using the potty full time…I’ll keep you updated.